Metropol

Metropol, HUMTOO's latest mix tape, full of smooth percussive electronic grooves...the rhythms of city life.

Track listing:

Beauty - jayhales



Lounge of Lurv - TheAudioDetective
Ruff Lounge - TheAudioDetective


Moby Dyk - garrycribb




Urban Decay - godfreymusic



In An Electro Blue Dream - Giannis
A later shade of blue - Giannis



Leave the city - graham
Trippin - graham


Muffle - audioscapist
Three - audioscapist
Mon Salève - audioscapist

Last Orders - neokitsch



Im flying - foukbass
Bukowski no vox - foukbass
waiting - foukbass

Passenger of the night - StoneLionMusic



Alone in the city - Hans



Light at the end - KeyDrum12



shimmy - Soundgram



Here are what some of the music makers behind the mix tape have to say about their tracks:

Last Orders - Neokitsch is a quirky twist on the smooth groove/lounge music idiom, which uses unusual vocal echoes, and kitchen utensils for its percussion.

Passenger in the Night - StoneLionMusic I like to put myself mentally in to the place for what I am composing for. I imagined being in a Taxi and traveling through the city at night and watching the buildings and lights reflect off of the store front windows. I felt that using a smooth jazz theme matched very well with that.

Alone In The City - Hans I tried to depict the sensation of loneliness in a big city when you don't have any means to get in touch with the one you love.
I started the track with a sort of Avant Gard chord progression a la Erik Satie (Gymnopedie) and used break beats to sound more modern and urban.

Light At The End - KeyDrum12 I was inspired by watching Nature documentaries and scenery pictures. I just wanted to reproduce, almost "painting", those beautiful landscapes through music.

Mon Salève - Audioscapist is a piece with a darkish heavy mood resolved by soaring lighter sections. Inspired by my memories of le Salève, a mountain with wondrous views of Geneva and surroundings. I remember one day watching parascenders rising in the thermals from the top, the lighter pads mimicking them were written first, followed by the driving bass to give the piece the solidity of the slopes.

Shades Of White

Shades Of White is a new mix tape full chock full of 'minimalist emotive drones'.

Track listing:

Molecule Connection - Stonelionmusic
Deep - Stonelionmusic

The Minds Eye - Stonelionmusic

Deep water shallow Breath - davewaugh

june - davewaugh
barrier reef - davewaugh

The Ocean - neokitsch

Ben By Night - neokitsch
Schumann Fish - neokitsch
Frost - neokitsch

Evolving - Keydrum12

Torture 1 - Wizzer

The Lonely Walk Home - godfreymusic
Droning, now waving - godfreymusic
Cold Dawn - godfreymusic
Russian Theme - godfreymusic
Intensity - godfreymusic
Air - godfreymusic
Grindsonte Love - godfreymusic

Temptation - IanD

Here are what some of the music makers behind the mix tape have to say about their tracks:

Ben By Night: (Neokitsch) is an ambient piece which is tranquil, reflective and enlightening. It is a location specific piece, as the music resonates through the chimes of Big Ben, so this track is a perfect choice for those wishing to describe a London night scene.

The Ocean : (Neokitsch) is a mysterious and haunting piece with threatening rumbles contrasted with high pitched chimes. It weaves through light and dark moods, describing the uncertain depths of the otherworldly ocean.

Schumann Fish: (Neokitsch) uses a mixture of subtle ambient music with sound recordings. The name comes from the piece being inspired by a particular passage in one of the Schumann Lieder, although this piece however, has an aquatic texture.

Frost: (Neokitsch) is very dark, with a distant, reverberant female voice accompanied by the low crackles and rumbles of the vintage analogue Moog Rogue synthesizer.

Deep water shallow breath: (Dave Waugh) I spent hours searching through all my synths for sounds and tweaking them, what I was really looking for were synths that were unpredictable, never responding the same way twice, I'd record the outcomes and reposition the audio, sometimes reversing the audio files. Other synths I used had an incredible delay, only starting to be audible a couple of bars after playing them, and then twisting away long after the note had been stopped on the keyboard. I enjoyed not knowing what to expect next in the track. I renamed it when it was complete because it gave me the feeling of something terrible lurking beneath a deep ocean.

June: (Dave Waugh)I tried for something a little more musical in regards to the timing on this track, I started with a bass pulse and a couple of very gentle synths which complement eachother to provide the pad. The melody line is a combination of a celesta through effects and synth. The organ sound which enters in the last third of the track, is a build up of delay from a couple of the synths.

Barrier reef: (Dave Waugh)Although probably the simplest sounding of the three tracks i have on Shades of White, this track took surprisingly long to create. I took hours to find the right synths and although a very simple progression, reworked the chords several times. The track surprised me when it was finished.

Evolving: (Keydrum2) I was inspired by watching Nature documentaries and scenery pictures. I just wanted to reproduce, almost "painting", those beautiful landscapes through music.

Molecular Connection: (stonelionmusic) I often compose music with out any title in mind at all. I am often inspired by the track itself to title it something and go by the "feeling" of the piece. This reminded me of something on a Molecular level and all the connections within ourselves there are.

The Minds Eye: (stonelionmusic) I've always loved doing Ambient/New Age style music and try to convey things through it. In this track I thought it was like a short trip though the mind in a slightly grandiose and expanding way.

Deep: (stonelionmusic) This track was originally done for a deep sea documentary and because of that I tried to convey depth of the ocean and some of the wonders deep within the sea. Recently this track under a similar title was pitched for a feature film because of it's relaxing nature.

www.humtoo.com

neo-drones mix tape

Neo-drones is the first of HUMTOO's invite mix tapes. Here are some of Neokitsch's thoughts on neo-drones.

This mix tape came naturally to me, as ambient genres of music are often requested for NeoKitsch. The instruments and performance style bring about a hypnotic, meditative aura. Most of the pieces, although thoroughly minimal, use a technique where all the twelve notes of the chromatic scale are used mainly in relation to one and other, rather than sticking to a key, and it avoids melodic and traditional harmonic structures. This approach, I find, encourages the listener to appreciate textures and mood above all else, as each note is of equal importance. As NeoKitsch produces music for visual mediums, this mix tape is designed to enrich the screen with deep textures, as well as keeping a distance, in order not to dominate the image.

Some of the instruments used were the Moog Etherwave Theremin, Violin, Viola, Folktek Folkchord, Micro Garden, Electron Monomachine, Lap Steel Guitar, Moog Voyager, Bass Guitar, Omnichord and the Haken Continuum Fingerboard.

All tracks are live improvisations recorded at the NeoKitsch studio using a ProTools HD system, with vintage and modern mics and preamps, including the Nuemann U87 and AKG C414.

Neo-Drones is an eclectic mix of atmospheres, which will be appropriate for any soundtrack seeking ambient sounds with the ‘less is more’ approach.”

Listen to it here!

If you'd like to see Neokitsch at work in his studio, check out his HUMCAST:

Disco Retropolis

As HUMTOO’s first mix tapes are completed, we thought we’d give you a rundown on our hottest new release…

Disco Retropolis

“Retro Funk And Disco Grooves”

Track Listing

Lost in Disco – garrycribb
Retro Flares – garrycribb
Westbay Bridge – garrycribb



Funk It Now – keydrum12
Friday Night Fever – keydrum12



Can Ya Dig It – StoneLionMusic



Back To Funk – TheAudioDetective


Quarter Past Funk O’clock – audioscapist
December – audioscapist
Funkliving – audioscapist


On The Run – jaywoods
Funky Junky – jaywoods

Funkasaurus 1 – nspaas
Funkasaurus 7 – nspaas
Funkasaurus 5 – nspaas
Funkasaurus 8 - nspaas
Funkasaurus 2 - nspaas
Funkasaurus 3 - nspaas

www.humtoo.com